Barbecue spit and drive mechanism

ABSTRACT

A barbecue spit and drive mechanism having upwardly open concave cradle type bearings in which a spit is rotatably mounted; a rotary gear disposed on a spit and adapted to engage a motor driven gear when the spit is in said upwardly open concave bearings, whereby the loaded spit may be readily and conveniently moved vertically downward into engagement with said bearings and into driving relationship with said motor driven gear. The mechanism also includes a safety cover, for the gear on said spit, adapted to prevent rotation of said gear on said spit when said cover is in open position relative thereto; and means operable by said cover adapted to prevent rotation of said spit when said cover is in open position over said gear on said spit.

United States atent n91 Bernstein [111 3,733,999 51 May 22, 1973 [54]BARBECUE SPIT AND DRIVE MECHANISM [22] Filed: Feb. 19, 1971 [21] Appl.No.2 116,996

[52] 11.8. C1 ..99/337, 99/339, 99/421 H [51] Int. Cl. ..A47j 37/04 [58]Field of Search ..99/339, 340, 420,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,405,984 8/1946 Sharpe..99/337 X 1,554,645 9/1925 Morris ...99/42l HH 1,605,143 11/1926Renfroe ..99/421 HH 2,142,390 1/1939 Zerr ..99/420 2,557,963 12/1951Hagopian ..99/339 UX 3,169,470 2/1965 Oatley 99/421 HH 3,321,982 5/1967Maunus et a]. ..74/84 3,339,479 9/1967 Miller et al. ..99/421 HV3,359,887 12/1967 Cleveland ..99/42l HV 3,447,445 6/1969 Koziol..99/421R Primary Examiner--Billy J. Wilhite Assistant Examiner-Arthur0. Henderson Attorney-Eric P. Schellin and John A. Robertson [57]ABSTRACT A barbecue spit and drive mechanism having upwardly openconcave cradle type bearings in which a spit is rotatably mounted; arotary gear disposed on a spit and adapted to engage a motor driven gearwhen the spit is in said upwardly open concave bearings, whereby theloaded spit may be readily and conveniently moved vertically downwardinto engagement with said bearings and into driving relationship withsaid motor driven gear. The mechanism also includes a safety cover, forthe gear on said spit, adapted to prevent rotation of said gear on saidspit when said cover is in open position relative thereto; and meansoperable by said cover adapted to prevent rotation of said spit whensaid cover is in open position over said gear on said spit.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENIEUMAYZZIQB 733,999

SHEET 1 BF 4 INVENTOR BERNARD JBERNSTEIN ATTORNEYS w H H PATENTEWYZZIQYS3,733,999

SHEET 2 []F 4 INVENTOR. BERNARD J.BERN$TEIN ATTORNEYS PATENTEU 2 7 sum 3UF 4 INVENTOR.

BERNARD J. BERNSTEIN ATTORNEYS PATENTED 3,733,999

SHEEY 4 [1F 4 INVENTOR.

BERNARD J. BERNSTEIN TT RNEYS a 1 BARBECUE SPlT AND DRIVE MECHANISMMotorized barbecue spits of the prior art have generally been of arectangular cross section and provided with a handle on one end whilethe opposite end thereof has been motor driven by a rectangular socketin which the end of the spit is fitted manually.

When such a conventional barbecue spit is heavily loaded it is difficultto place the end of the spit in a conforming rectangular drive socket,and in many instances this must be done while holding the loaded spitover a fire pit. Usually the end of a barbecue spit is tapered inopposed relation to the end on which the bandle is located, heavilyloaded spits impose a substantial load on the handle and therefore, thecantilever loading on the spit may be such as to render great difficultyin placing the end of the spit in the rectangular motor driven socket.Such may be particularly true where large and heavy portions of food,such as a turkey or the like, are being barbecued. In such instances, ithas been found necessary to manually support such heavily laden spits bythe human hand over a hot fire pit and consequently, conventionalbarbecue spits and related drive mechanisms have been somewhatunsatisfactory due to the difficulty of engaging the spit with the drivemotor after the spit has been heavily loaded and when the barbecue tireis hot and ready to barbecue food.

It is usually necessary to bring a barbecue pit up to the conventionalbarbecue temperature when charcoal or other material is used and toallow the charcoal to reach a proper temperature before any food isplaced thereover.

In accordance with the foregoing, it will be appreciated that mostconventional barbecue spits, of necessity, require that the food beplaced over the pit after the fire is up to barbecue temperature andthat the placement of a heavily loaded spit thereover may be hazardousto the human hands.

In accordance with the present invention, a barbecue pit structure isprovided with spit supporting bearings which are concave upwardly opencradle type bearings into which a spit maybe moved downwardly anddirectly into such bearings; the spit of the invention carries a gearthereon adapted to mesh with a motor driven gear stationarily mountedrelative to the barbecue pit structure of the invention. These featuresof the invention permit facility in placing a heavily loaded spit over ahot barbecue area by supporting the spit in a cantilever fashion by thehandle at one end thereof.

The invention also includes a safety cover adapted to move into positionover a driven gear on the barbecue spit so as to protect the hands fromthe gear when it is rotating. The cover is adapted to engage a motorenergizing switch, when in closed position, to permit operation of themotor only when the cover is closed. A modification of the inventionemploys pivots cradle bearing means carried by the cover whichautomatically disengages the gear on the barbecue spit from the motordriven gear when the cover is opened. Accordingly the cover must beclosed before the gear carried by the barbecue spit rotates. Theinvention also comprises very compact spit drive mechanism including amotor driven gear train and end play bearing means for maintaining ameshed relationship of a gear carried bythe spit with the motor drivengear train so thatthe spit may be readily removed and/orengaged with itssupporting bearings and whereby the gear, carried by the spit, mayreadily and accurately engage the gear train each time the spit isplaced in its supporting cradle bearings for rotatably carrying foodabove the barbecue pit structure of the invention.

The invention also includes a barbecue pit structure having separategrill and barbecue areas whereby food may be grilled over one of theareas while the barbecue spit of the invention may be rotatablysupported for carrying food to be barbecued over another area of thebarbecue pit structure. An intermediate bearing is disposed at anintermediate portion of the pitstructure so as to support one end of thespit of the invention while the opposite end thereof is driven by meansof a gear carried on the spit and in mesh with a motor driven gear.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide abarbecue spit and drive mechanism which is very convenient to use whenthe spit is heavily loaded and it is desired to engage the spit withsupporting bearings and rotary drive mechanism of the invention.

Another object of the invention is to provide a barbecue spit and drivemechanism which permits the spit of the invention readily to be engagedwith upwardly open concave bearings when the spit is heavily loaded andwhen it is placed over a hot barbecue area and whereby the spit may beengaged with rotary drive mechanism without the necessity of placing apersons hand over the hot barbecue pit area.

Another object of the invention is to provide a barbecue spit and drivemechanism wherein the spit carries a rotary gear adapted to be engagedand disengaged with amotor driven gear stationarily operable adjacentinvention overa first area of the pit structure while other food may begrilledon a grill over'another area of the barbecue pit structure.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel barbecue spit anddrive mechanism wherein a barbecue spit is provided with a handle and arotary bearing adjacent thereto with a gear fixed to the spit adjacenttosaid bearing and wherein said gear and bearing is adapted to be engagedvertically with drive mechanism having a motor driven gear and whereinend play bearing means positively locates the gear on said spit relativeto the motor driven gear when the bearing, adjacent to the handle andthe spit is vertically placed in a complimental upwardly open concavebearing carried by the drive mechanism of the invention.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety cover for arotary gear carried on a barbecue spit of the invention, the safetycover being adapted, either to operate a motor control switch,-or toraise the spit such that the gear on the spit is disengagedfrom a motordriven gear so that when the cover is closed, the spit is permitted torotate and when the cover is opemthe spit and the gear carriedtherebyare stopped from rotation so that the fingers of the operator may not becaught in the gears of the invention.

Further objects and advantages of the invention may be apparent from thefollowing specification, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, ofwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a barbecue spit and drive mechanism ofthe invention mounted on a pit structure and showing portions of the pitcover fragmentarily;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of barbecue spit anddrive mechanism of the invention showing a barbecue spit having a rotarygear coupled thereto and in position removed from the supportingbearings and gear train of the drive mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken from the line 33 of FIG. 2 showing asafety cover in closed position and operating a motor energizing switchof the invention;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 and showing a modification of theinvention wherein a safety cover is provided with bearing cradlesadapted automatically to disengage a gear, carried by the spit of theinvention, from the motor driven mechanism of the invention when thecover is opened and it is desired to remove the spit from the barbecuepit area;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the modification asdisclosed in FIG. 4;

,FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken from the lines 6-6 of FIG.3 showing end play bearing structure of the invention adapted tomaintain a meshed relation between the barbecue spit rotary gear and amotor driven gear of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing a modification of theinvention wherein an intermediate bearing supports the spit of theinvention so that two separate areas of the pit structure are availablefor barbecuing food on the spit as well as on a grill.

As shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, the invention comprises a generallybox-shaped pit structure 10 having a hearth area 12 wherein charcoal orother heating means may be disposed to provide heat over which food maybe barbecued.

The pit structure 10 carries an upstanding bearing support 14 providedwith a generally U-shaped upwardly facing, or upwardly open, concavebearing portion 16. This bearing is open at 18 and one end of a spit 20is rotatably mounted and vertically removable or replaceable relative tosaid upwardly facing concave bearing 16. The bearing portion 16 may havea concave surface which is equal to 180 degrees, or less, of an arcuategeometry.

The spit 20 is provided with a bearing portion 22 rotatably mounted inthe upwardly facing concave bearing portion 16 and an opposite end ofthe spit 20 is provided with a handle 24 fixed thereto. Mounted on oneend 26 of the box-shaped barbecue pit structure 10 is a spit drivemechanism 28 shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings. An endportion 30 of the barbecue pit structure 10 is provided with an upwardlyopen notch 32 through which the spit 20 extends but which does notprovide any contact or bearing surface for the spit 20.

The drive mechanism 28 is provided with a concave substantially.semicircular cradle-type or generally U- shaped bearing portion 34 whichis opened upwardly and which is illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 6 of thedrawings. This concave bearing portion 34 comprises two separateportions 36 and 38 which have adjacent ends 40 and 42 spaced apart toprovide for end play bearing means between which a rotary gear 44, fixedon the spit 20, may be disposed as will be hereinafter described. Asshown in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the spit 20 is provided with aconcentric bearing 46 disposed adjacent the gear 44 and the handle 24.This concentric bearing 46 is adapted to bear in the upwardly openconcave cradle bearing 34 in its bearing portions 36 and 38 which areaxially aligned about a barbecue spit axis indicated by broken lines 48in FIG. 6 of the drawings. The cradle bearing 34 may have a concavesurface which is equal to 180 degrees, or less, of an arcuate geometry.

The gear 44 carried by the spit 20 is adapted to mesh with a gear 50 ofa gear train 52 driven by an electric motor 54 of the drive mechanism28. This mechanism 28 is contained in a housing 56 which is providedwith notches 58 and 60 in the sides thereof which are open upwardly tothe top of the housing 56 and which are slightly larger at the bottomthan the radius dimensions of the concave bearing portions 36 and 38 sothat the bearing 46 on the spit 20 may bear only on the concave upwardlyopen bearing portions 36 and 38 of the concave bearing structure 34.

Pivotally mounted on the housing 56 by means of a suitable pivot pin 62is a cover 64 provided with notches 65 adapted to straddle the spit 20when the bearing 46 is in the concave bearing portions 36 and 38.

The cover 64 is a safety cover adapted to cover the gear 44 when it isin mesh with the gear 50 to prevent a persons fingers from being caughtand injured by the gear 44 when it is rotated by the motor driven gear50.

When the cover 64 is in the broken line position as shown in FIG. 3, itengages a reciprocating button 66 of a switch 68 which is in series witha starting switch 70 adapted to conduct electrical energy from a powersupply cord 72 to the motor 54. It will be understood that when thecover 64 is in the position shown'in FIG. 3, the button 66 of the switch68 is depressed thereby closing the switch in series with the switch 70so that the motor 54 may be energized.

When the cover 64 is pivoted upwardly to the solid line position shownin FIG. 2 of the drawings, the normally open switch 68 is then open dueto the fact that the button 66 is released, thus, the motor 54 isdeenergized immediately as the cover 64 is opened, thus, stopping themotor and operation of the gear 50 as well as rotary operation of thegear 44 and the spit 20.

Accordingly, each time the cover 64 is closed, the switch 68 is closedso that the switch 70 may be used to energize the motor 54 and in theevent the switch 70 is closed and when the cover 64 is opened, theswitch 68 opens a circuit to de-energize the motor 54 and therebyprovide safety in the operation of the mechanism of the invention toprevent a persons fingers from being caught by the gear 44. I

A modification of the invention as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 of thedrawings, comprises a safety cover 77 pivoted on a pin 74 to a modifiedhousing 76 which houses a motor and gear train similar to the motor 54and gear train 52.

The gear 44 on the spit 20 is normally covered by the cover 72 when inthe broken line position as shown in FIG. 5 of the drawings. As shown inFIG. 4 of the drawings, cradle hook means 78, integral with the cover77, is engageable with the bearing means 46 on the spit 20, adjacent tothe handle 24, whereby raising of the cover 77 into the position asshown in FIG. 4 of the drawings,

causes the cradle hook 78 to elevate the bearing 46 and spit 20 such asto elevate the gear 44 and disengage its peripheral teeth 80 fromcomplimental teeth on the gear 50 as hereinbefore described. Thus,raising of the safety cover 77 automatically disengages the gear 44 fromthe gear 50 and prevents rotation of the gear 44 when the cover 77 ismoved to open position thereby preventing a persons fingers from beingcaught by the gear 44.

When the cover 77 is moved downward into the broken line position asshown in FIG. 5, the cradle hook 78 pivots downwardly a sufficientdistance to allow peripheral meshed engagement of the teeth 80 of thegear 44 with complimental teeth on the gear 50.

As shown in FIG. 7 of the drawings, the invention includes a modifiedpit structure designated 82. This pit structure 82 is similar to the pitstructure 10 but is provided with an intermediate bearing portion 84similar to the hereinbefore described bearing 16.

The bearing 84 supports one end 86 of a relatively shorter spit 88similar to the hereinbefore described spit 20.

Accordingly, the spit 88 may be used to rotatably support food beingbarbecued over a first hearth area 90 of the barbecue pit structure 82.A grill 92 is disposed over a second hearth area of the pit structure 82and may be used for stationary grilling of food while the spit 88 isused rotatably to barbecue food over the area 90.

In operation, the barbecue spit and drive mechanism of the inventionprovides substantial facility in the placement of a loaded barbecue spitover a hot barbecue pit area. The invention provides simple barbecuespit receiving bearings as hereinbefore described which are generallyconcave upwardly open bearings which allow vertical placement of thespit or 88 by means of the handle 24 such that a persons hands need notbe placed over the hot barbecue area in order to engage the spit withits supporting bearings and motor drive mechanism.

When the spit 20 is loaded with food such as a heavy turkey or the like,the handle 24 supports the spit in cantilever fashion and the one end ofthe spit 20 may be placed in the bearing 16 and when so placed is merelylowered vertically into the upwardly open concave bearing 16 while thebearing 46 is lowered into the upwardly open concave bearing structure34 such that the gear 44 passes downwardly between the end play bearingstructures 40 and 42 of the concave bearing portions 36 and 38 of theconcave bearing 34.

A ramp 43 adjacent the end play bearing 42 tends to provide an inclinedor downwardly declining surface to guide the gear 44 downwardly betweenthe end play bearings 38 and 40 and into meshed relation with the gear50 as shown best in FIG. 6 of the drawings. Thus, accurate meshedrelationship of the gear 44 with the gear 50 is obtained and the gear 44is prevented from moving axially along the axis 48 to a position out ofmesh with the gear 50 when the gear 50 is driving the gear 44. Thus, thespit 20 is efficiently driven and the load thereon tends to imposevertical force and tends to insure proper meshed driving relationship ofthe gear 50 with the gear 44.

When the spit 70 is placed over the barbecue pit area as hereinbeforedescribed and moved vertically downwardly, the facility of doing thisrequires no precise placement of the outboard end of the spit into adriving bearing and therefore, the use of a persons hands over the hotpit area is not required.

When the spit 20 is placed over the barbecue pit area in the bearings 16and 34 and when the gear 44 is meshed with the gear 50, the cover 64 isclosed causing closing of the switch 66 and thereby permittingenergization of the motor 54 when the switch 70 is closed. Thus, thegear 44 cannot rotate until after the cover 64 is closed and thus, thehazard to a persons fingers being caught in the gear 44 is avoided. Itwill be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings, that when the cover isclosed, the switch 68 as hereinbefore described is closed, allowingoperation of the motor 54 and when the cover 64 is in open position asshown in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the switch 66 is opened, de-energizingthe motor 54 and allowing the spit 20 to be handled without danger of apersons fingers being caught by the gear 44.

In the modification of the invention as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 of thedrawings, the cradle hook 78, in connection with the cover 72,mechanically raises the teeth of the gear 44 out of mesh withcomplemental teeth on the gear 50 and thus, automatically stops rotationof the spit 20 and gear 44 when the cover 22 is moved to open position.Conversely, when the cover is moved to closed position as indicated bybroken lines in FIG. 5 of the drawings, the cradle hook 78 lowers thespit 20 and gear 44 to such a position that the peripheral teeth 80fully engage with complimental teeth on the gear 50 and allow operationand rotary movement of the gear 44 and spit 20 when the switch 70 isclosed.

It will be appreciated that the drive gear 44 adjacent the handle 24 andits removeably meshable relationship with the gear 50 provides apositive drive means in combination with the upwardly open concavebearings 16 and 34 so as to permit simple vertical loading of the spitover the hot barbecue area by means of a persons single hand holding thehandle 24 and supporting the spit 20 in cantilever relation therewith.

It will be obvious to those skilled in he art that the handle 24 may beof any length desired as, for example, it may be sufficiently long forboth hands of the operator to grasp it and to handle a heavycantilevered load such as a turkey or the like.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the handling ofheavy loads on the spit 20 may be accomplished by a relative length ofthe handle 24 and in this manner the spit 20 may be efficiently handledentirely by the handle 24 even though heavily loaded so that the handsof the operator need not be disposed over the barbecue pit or heartharea during the placement of the spit 88 in the bearings adjacentthereto and into driving relationship with the driving mechanism 28.

In operation of the modification of the invention as shown in FIG. 7, itwill be seen that hamburgers may be grilled on the grill 92 while foodmay be rotatably barbecued on the modified spit 88 operable in a mannersimilar to that described in connection with the drive mechanism 28hereinbefore described in connection with FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of thedrawings.

Various changes in the device herein chosen for purposes of illustrationin the drawings will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Anobvious change would be the elimination of the teeth from both the motordriven gear and the rotary gear fixed to the spit and thereby reducingsaid gears to rotors having the simpliest form of engaging meanstherebetween. Utilizing the weight of the loaded spit to maintaincontact, the engaging means therefore may be accomplished by friction.Obviously the friction may be increased in numerous conventionalmanners, such as providing each rotor with a serrated or roughenedperiphery, or similarly, providing the driven gear with a peripheralV-shaped indentation and the rotary gear with a suitable mating contour.

Having fully described and disclosed the invention and the preferredembodiment thereof in such clear and concise terms as to enable thoseskilled in the art to understand and practice same.

I claim:

1. In a barbecue spit and drive mechanism, the combination of: abarbecue fire pit structure; a motorized spit drive mechanism disposedin stationary relation to said pit structure; said drive mechanismhaving a motor driven rotatable gear operable on a generally horizontalrotary axis; a spit bearing having a generally hori zontal axis anddisposed in spaced relation with said rotary axis of said rotatablegear; said spit bearing having an upwardly directed concave bearingportion adjacent said rotatable gear; said bearing portion being open topermit generally vertical placement or removal of a spit bearingrelative to said concave bearing portion; an elongated barbecue spithaving a peripheral bearing disposed on said elongated spit; saidperipheral bearing adapted to bear in said concave bearing portion; arotary gear fixed to said spit and disposed and adapted to mesh withsaid motor driven gear when said peripheral bearing rests in saidconcave bearing portion on said spit to maintain said rotary gear beingengaged with said motor driven gear in driving relation between saidgears; a cover for covering the rotary gear on said spit;

and safety means operable upon opening of said cover switch to openposition above saidrotary gear.

1. In a barbecue spit and drive mechanism, the combination of: abarbecue fire pit structure; a motorized spit drive mechanism disposedin stationary relation to said pit structure; said drive mechanismhaving a motor driven rotatable gear operable on a generally horizontalrotary axis; a spit bearing having a generally horizontal axis anddisposed in spaced relation with said rotary axis of said rotatablegear; said spit bearing having an upwardly directed concave bearingportion adjacent said rotatable gear; said bearing portion being open topermit generally vertical placement or removal of a spit bearingrelative to said concave bearing portion; an elongated barbecue spithaving a peripheral bearing disposed on said elongated spit; saidperipheral bearing adapted to bear in said concave bearing portion; arotary gear fixed to said spit and disposed and adapted to mesh withsaid motor driven gear when said peripheral bearing rests in saidconcave bearing portion on said spit to maintain said rotary gear beingengaged with said motor driven gear in driving relation between saidgears; a cover for covering the rotary gear on said spit; and safetymeans operable upon opening of said cover to prEvent rotation of saidrotary gear when said cover is open.
 2. The invention as defined inclaim 1 wherein a motor is disposed to drive said motor driven gear; anda switch is operable by said cover when in closed position over saidrotary gear on said spit whereby said motor may be energized throughsaid switch and de-energized when said cover is moved away from saidswitch to open position above said rotary gear.